Indonesia began rolling out a $1.5 billion stimulus package Thursday to boost consumer activity after Southeast Asia’s biggest economy posted its slowest growth in more than three years in the first quarter. The archipelago nation’s economy grew 4.87 percent from a year earlier in the first three months of 2025 — a sluggish rate for the developing country last seen during the Covid-19 pandemic in mid-2021. President Prabowo Subianto has drawn criticism for his economic policies, including slashing $19 billion from the government budget to fund a new sovereign wealth fund. The new stimulus measures include discounts for train, plane…
Author: diplomaticjourna_diplomaticjourna
US defence chief Pete Hegseth will seek on Thursday to drive home a deal on ramping up NATO defence spending that can satisfy President Donald Trump at a summit later this month. The volatile US leader has demanded that alliance members agree to boost defence spending to five percent of their GDP at the June 24-25 meeting in The Netherlands. NATO chief Mark Rutte has put forward a compromise agreement for 3.5 percent of GDP on core military spending by 2032, and 1.5 percent on broader security-related areas such as infrastructure. Multiple diplomats say that Rutte looks on track to…
(BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz, persistent growth worries and slowing inflation are expected to prompt eurozone rate-setters to lower borrowing costs again on Thursday. It would be the European Central Bank’s seventh consecutive interest rate cut, with officials having shifted focus from taming consumer price rises to easing pressure on the sluggish eurozone economy. Trump’s tariffs have added to an already uncertain outlook for the single-currency area, with Europe firmly in his crosshairs, fuelling fears about a heavy hit to the continent’s exporters. Expectations that the Frankfurt-based institution will deliver a fresh rate cut were strengthened this…
After a month of the busiest time for family members, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman’s wife Dr. Zubaida Rahman will leave Dhaka for London this morning to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with her husband and daughter in London. She is scheduled to leave for London on a Qatar Airlines flight at 11:00 am today. Rahman has already left for Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from her Gulshan residence. Earlier, she returned to the country after 17 years with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. Zubaida Rahman left Dhaka with Tarique Rahman on September 11, 2008. On September 26 of the same year, the Anti-Corruption Commission…
Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus will pay a four-day official visit to the United Kingdom (UK) from June 10 to 13, as Dhaka and London look to reinvigorate their historic partnership through broader cooperation in trade, investment, governance, and global challenges of mutual concern. “This is a very important visit,” Acting Foreign Secretary Ruhul Alam Siddique told reporters during a curtain-raiser briefing at the foreign ministry here this afternoon. The Chief Adviser is scheduled to depart Dhaka for London on June 9 and return home on June 14. During the visit, the chief adviser will be granted an audience with…
(BSS/AFP) – Muslim pilgrims prayed atop Mount Arafat on Thursday during the high point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, as Saudi officials called on participants to refrain from being outside during the hottest hours of the day. Thousands of pilgrims were beginning to gather before dawn around the hill and the surrounding plain where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his last sermon. While some arrived early to take advantage of the relatively cool morning, many pilgrims will remain for hours of prayers and Koran recitals until the evening in the most arduous portion of the hajj. After…
(BSS) – The government in a statement today confirmed that the news published in various media and social media regarding cancellation of the recognition of the leaders of the Mujibnagar government as ‘freedom fighters’ during the Liberation War, “is not true”. The statement said gazette of the “National Freedom Fighters Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025” published yesterday (on Tuesday) clearly states that all members of the Mujibnagar government will be recognized as ‘heroic freedom fighters’.
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today congratulated Lee Jae-myung on his election as the new South Korean president. In a message sent to Jae-myung, the Chief Adviser said on behalf of the Government and the people of Bangladesh, and on his own behalf, he extends his warmest congratulations to Jae-myung on his election as the president of the Republic of Korea. “Your victory reflects the deep trust and confidence that the people of Korea have placed in your leadership and vision for the nation. “We wish you great success in fulfilling the aspirations of your citizens and in leading your…
DJ Desk : US President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban Wednesday targeting 12 countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen, reviving one of the most controversial measures from his first term. Trump said the measure was spurred by a makeshift flamethrower attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that US authorities blamed on a man they said was in the country illegally. The ban targets nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Trump also imposed a partial ban on travelers from seven countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra…
United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis today said the upcoming national election can still be inclusive even if the Awami League does not take part, as long as people are able to vote and express their opinions freely. “The UN inclusive election means every segment of the society should be able to vote and everyone should have access and ability to participate in the election,” she said, adding that people’s participation is the key determinant of inclusivity in an election not the political parties. Lewis made the remarks at a “DCAB Talk” hosted by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association,…
